Henry Bessemer (1813-1898): Pioneer in making steel

Henry Bessemer was a self-trained technologist who had many inventions to his credit. None is comparable to the Bessemer process which was the first cheap industrial method of making steel from pig iron. He publicly announced in 1856 his process at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. This earned him world-wide name and a tiny fortune from the royalties.

HENRY BESSEMER was born (January 19, 1813) in a family of French stock; his father moved to England with the outbreak of the French Revolution. No details are available about his early education, except that he left school at the age of 17, to spend his time in his father's workshop. This proved to be fruitful as he found every chance to develop his talent as an inventor. He inherited from his father much skill and enterprise.

At a very young age, Bessemer put to use his knowledge of casting to produce art work. He obtained recognition by the Royal Academy, London and was invited to exhibit his work. In 1838, Bessemer invented a type-setting machine and perfected a process for making imitation `Utrecht velvet.'

About 1840, Bessemer turned his attention to the manufacture of bronze powder and gold paint, in which industry Germany was enjoying a monopoly. He could produce it of the same quality but at one-eighth of the price.

It was the bronze powder and gold paint process, which was kept as a secret in the family, that provided the capital needed to set up a small company in St. Pancras (London). Here his experiments led to the invention of the steel-making process with which his name is linked.

Removing carbon from iron

The basis of Bessemer's invention is the ingenious idea for removing carbon from iron simply by blowing a blast of air through the molten metal. Pig iron which was extremely brittle could be converted to wrought iron by a laborious process. When he considered adding the oxygen directly as an air-blast, it was expected that the cold air would solidify the molten iron.

However, on trying out his idea, he found the reverse was true: The blast of air burnt off the carbon and the heat thereby generated served to keep the molten state.

By stopping the process at the appropriate time, steel - which has a carbon content between that of cast iron and wrought iron, could be produced without the intermediate wrought iron stage. The cost for producing steel was greatly reduced.

Vast sums of money were invested in equipment to implement the new process. But instead of receiving accolades as a hero, he was derided because the steel was of a very poor grade.

In 1860 Bessemer erected his own steel works at Sheffield and introduced a tilting converter which was fast in action. It was used in Europe: France (1858), Germany (1862), and Austria (1863). The process was introduced into the United States in 1864, but under the patent of William Kelly (1811-88) who claimed priority of the discovery.

The high-grade steel Bessemer made was sold for a fraction of the market price. Steelmakers applied for licences and the royalties earned made Bessemer a wealthy man.

Other inventions

Bessemer retired at the early age of 56 but continued with his inventions: a new method for making lead pencils and composing- type graphite; machinery for sugar refining; a form of iron strong enough to meet the high gas pressures in rifles; the first method for stamping deeds which was adopted by the British Government.

His last scheme was construction of a stabilised salon for a ocean-going ship to give relief to passengers prone to sea- sickness. The venture was a failure and landed him into severe financial loss.

Bessemer became famous for his process which produced cheap steel. Apart from the manufacture of armaments, there was an enormous demand for Bessemer steel for the development of the railways. He was elected F.R.S. in 1879 but was not allowed to accept the Legion of Honour, a French decoration. No fewer than six towns in the U.S. were named after him. He died at the ripe age of 85 (March 15, 1898) at Denmark Hill, London, (The Hutchinson Dictionary of Scientific Biography, Helicon Publishing Ltd., Oxford, 1994).

R. Parthasarathy

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